Status of Sepsis Care in European Hospitals Results from an International Cross-Sectional Survey
(2025) In American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 211(4). p.587-599- Abstract
Rationale: Early detection, standardized therapy, adequate infrastructure, and strategies for quality improvement should constitute essential components of every hospital’s sepsis plan. Objectives: To investigate the extent to which recommendations from the sepsis guidelines are implemented and the availability of infrastructure for the care of patients with sepsis in acute-care hospitals. Methods: A multidisciplinary cross-sectional questionnaire was used to investigate sepsis care in hospitals. This included the use of sepsis definitions, the implementation of sepsis guideline recommendations, diagnostic and therapeutic infrastructure, antibiotic stewardship, and quality improvement initiatives (QIIs) in hospitals. Measurements and... (More)
Rationale: Early detection, standardized therapy, adequate infrastructure, and strategies for quality improvement should constitute essential components of every hospital’s sepsis plan. Objectives: To investigate the extent to which recommendations from the sepsis guidelines are implemented and the availability of infrastructure for the care of patients with sepsis in acute-care hospitals. Methods: A multidisciplinary cross-sectional questionnaire was used to investigate sepsis care in hospitals. This included the use of sepsis definitions, the implementation of sepsis guideline recommendations, diagnostic and therapeutic infrastructure, antibiotic stewardship, and quality improvement initiatives (QIIs) in hospitals. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 1,023 hospitals in 69 countries were included. Most of them, 835 (81.6%), were in Europe. Sepsis screening was used in 54.2% of emergency departments (EDs), 47.9% of wards, and 61.7% of ICUs. Sepsis management was standardized in 57.3% of EDs, 45.2% of wards, and 70.7% of ICUs. The implementation of comprehensive QIIs was associated with increased screening (EDs, 133.3%; wards, 144.4%; ICUs, 123.8% absolute difference) and increased standardized sepsis management (EDs, 133.6%; wards, 140.0%; ICUs, 117.7% absolute difference) compared with hospitals without QIIs. A total of 9.8% of hospitals had implemented ongoing QIIs, and 4.6% had invested in sepsis programs. Conclusions: The findings indicate that there is considerable room for improvement in a large number of mainly European hospitals, particularly with regard to early identification and standardized management of sepsis, the availability of guidelines, diagnostic and therapeutic infrastructure, and the implementation of QIIs. Further efforts are required to implement a more comprehensive and appropriate quality of care.
(Less)
- author
- contributor
- Ekman, Andreas
LU
; Ibrahim-Baker, Bushra
LU
; Kumar, Rajesh
LU
; Ljungquist, Oskar
LU
; Mellhammar, Lisa
LU
; Spångfors, Martin
LU
; Sundqvist, Martin
LU
and Tverring, Jonas
LU
- author collaboration
- organization
-
- Heparin bindning protein in cardiothoracic surgery (research group)
- SEBRA Sepsis and Bacterial Resistance Alliance (research group)
- Translational Sepsis research (research group)
- Infection Medicine (BMC)
- Anesthesiology and Intensive Care
- Clinical Sciences, Helsingborg
- Islet cell physiology (research group)
- SWECRIT (research group)
- Center for cardiac arrest (research group)
- Family Medicine and Community Medicine (research group)
- publishing date
- 2025-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- quality of care, sepsis management, sepsis programs, sepsis screening, standard of care
- in
- American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
- volume
- 211
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 13 pages
- publisher
- American Thoracic Society
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105002348147
- pmid:39787606
- ISSN
- 1073-449X
- DOI
- 10.1164/rccm.202406-1167OC
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2025 by the American Thoracic Society.
- id
- 771ebe76-761d-482e-a5b4-840ed9ea6ea6
- date added to LUP
- 2025-04-17 19:43:08
- date last changed
- 2025-04-23 03:08:25
@article{771ebe76-761d-482e-a5b4-840ed9ea6ea6,
abstract = {{<p>Rationale: Early detection, standardized therapy, adequate infrastructure, and strategies for quality improvement should constitute essential components of every hospital’s sepsis plan. Objectives: To investigate the extent to which recommendations from the sepsis guidelines are implemented and the availability of infrastructure for the care of patients with sepsis in acute-care hospitals. Methods: A multidisciplinary cross-sectional questionnaire was used to investigate sepsis care in hospitals. This included the use of sepsis definitions, the implementation of sepsis guideline recommendations, diagnostic and therapeutic infrastructure, antibiotic stewardship, and quality improvement initiatives (QIIs) in hospitals. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 1,023 hospitals in 69 countries were included. Most of them, 835 (81.6%), were in Europe. Sepsis screening was used in 54.2% of emergency departments (EDs), 47.9% of wards, and 61.7% of ICUs. Sepsis management was standardized in 57.3% of EDs, 45.2% of wards, and 70.7% of ICUs. The implementation of comprehensive QIIs was associated with increased screening (EDs, 133.3%; wards, 144.4%; ICUs, 123.8% absolute difference) and increased standardized sepsis management (EDs, 133.6%; wards, 140.0%; ICUs, 117.7% absolute difference) compared with hospitals without QIIs. A total of 9.8% of hospitals had implemented ongoing QIIs, and 4.6% had invested in sepsis programs. Conclusions: The findings indicate that there is considerable room for improvement in a large number of mainly European hospitals, particularly with regard to early identification and standardized management of sepsis, the availability of guidelines, diagnostic and therapeutic infrastructure, and the implementation of QIIs. Further efforts are required to implement a more comprehensive and appropriate quality of care.</p>}},
author = {{Scheer, Christian S. and Giamarellos-Bourboulis, Evangelos J. and Ferrer, Ricard and Idelevich, Evgeny A. and Annane, Djillali and Artigas, Antonio and Aslan, Abdullah Tarik and Bottari, Gabriella and Bouma, Hjalmar R. and Černý, Vladimir and Radivojević, Renata Curić and Dakou, Konstantina and Dewitte, Ken and Elbahnasawy, Mohamed and Gründling, Matthias and Gurjar, Mohan and Hästbacka, Johanna and Kyprianou, Miltiadis and Laribi, Said and Lassen, Annmarie and Lebedinskii, Konstantin and Máca, Jan and Malbrain, Manu L.N.G. and Monti, Gianpaola and Ostermann, Marlies and Osthoff, Michael and Paiva, José Artur and Sabbatucci, Michela and Śmiechowicz, Jakub and Ştefan, Mihai Gabriel and Vollmer, Marcus and Vuković, Natalija and Zaragkoulias, Kyriakos and Reinhart, Konrad and Linder, Adam and Filipescu, Daniela}},
issn = {{1073-449X}},
keywords = {{quality of care; sepsis management; sepsis programs; sepsis screening; standard of care}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{587--599}},
publisher = {{American Thoracic Society}},
series = {{American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine}},
title = {{Status of Sepsis Care in European Hospitals Results from an International Cross-Sectional Survey}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1164/rccm.202406-1167OC}},
doi = {{10.1164/rccm.202406-1167OC}},
volume = {{211}},
year = {{2025}},
}